Masquerade Marathon

Mike is on the run from a just-released criminal whom he got sent to jail and tries to hide from him in the annual masquerade picnic.

Cast (in order of appearance):, , , , , , , , , "Big Al" Finkleman

DVD: The Red Green Show – 2001 Season

Watch the episode on YouTube

Segment Summary
See also: Transcript

Plot: Red announces that the annual masquerade picnic is being held. Mike enters, wearing a costume. He worries to Red that he needs to hide from someone named "Big Al" Finkleman, whom he had ratted on and got sent to jail but whom had just been released and is now trying to find him. Red tells Mike to get another, more decent costume and wear it at the masquerade picnic to avoid being recognized. Soon the masquerade picnic gets underway, but Mike is worried that his new costume won't fool Big Al. So Red decides to add a new event to the picnic, a masquerade marathon, to help Mike hide. The marathon gets started earlier than anticipated. It turns out that Big Al showed up and Mike started running, and the other people in the marathon thought that meant the race was on and started running. Mike wins the race, dressed in yet another costume: Red Green himself! Mike then leaves for the lodge meeting just as Big Al arrives at the lodge looking for Mike. He asks Red where Mike is, but Red says that Mike left.

Opening Scene: Red mixes a batch of various hot spices together with birdseed and puts them in a birdhouse so the birds inside will keep warm in the winter.

The Possum Lodge Word Game: Harold tries to guess the word "power" to win a fluorescent bicycle handle grip.

Rothschild's Sewage and Septic Sucking Services: Winston does a commercial for his sewage company.

Handyman Corner: Red turns the engine of an old car into a barbecue.

The Experts: Red, Winston and Dalton discuss a female viewer's husband's bad eating habits.

Adventures: Red and the gang all try to break a downhill toboggan record time.

Ranger Gord's Educational Films: "Ranger Doolittle", in which Gord tries to talk to animals.

Red's Handyman Tips: Red shows a way to prevent cars from passing you.

Explanations

 * The duck in the Educational Film describes Ranger Gord to Little Red by saying, "Quack". A quack is an untrained person who pretends to be a physician and dispenses medical advice and treatment.

Inside References

 * This is the second time that Lodge members in this case, we just see Mike in Red Green disguise. Lodge members first did so in The Movie during the scene where they try out for the role of Red in the movie.
 * Winston previously mentioned his sewage truck as being worth $90,000 in The Ghost Of Possum Lodge.

Real-World References

 * Winston's first commercial is a parody of the "Priceless" commercials for MasterCard.
 * The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by the U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April.
 * The music heard during some of Ranger Gord's Educational Film are Night On Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky and The Nutcracker Suite by P.I. Tchaikovsky.
 * Near the end, Red mentions Walt Disney World.

Famous People

 * Curly and Larry are the two names that, at one point, Red sarcastically calls Dalton and Winston, respectively. Curly and Larry are two of the Three Stooges. The third stooge is Moe Howard.
 * Ranger Gord trying to talk to animals, as well as the title for this episode's Ranger Gord's Educational Film, is a parody of Doctor Doolittle, a fictional animal doctor who can also talk to animals.
 * The duck's expression and walking motion are references to Groucho Marx.